Module 6

February 24, 2009

Dear -

My name is Amanda and I am currently a teacher in North Carolina. I have worked in Virginia for several years in a federally funded Head Start program; this is my first year as a More at Four teacher in North Carolina. From my standpoint, as an educator of at-risk preschool children, the No Child Left Behind Act is making tremendous strides toward ensuring that all children have the opportunity to start kindergarten on a level playing field. I have taught over 50 children who would not have been able to attend preschool if it were not offered to them free of charge. Nearly half of these children would have gone to kindergarten not knowing any English at all. I feel like after a year in either of these preschool programs they are off to a great start and they are ready to succeed in kindergarten.

Once children get to kindergarten and the yearly testing begins, I think there are some shortfalls to the No Child Left Behind Legislation. The testing required by this act takes time and when teachers feel pressured to perform they teach the minimum required to pass the test instead of teaching them to be problem-solvers and thinkers. Children need to learn to be analytical thinkers and learn to think outside the box. When schools fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive years they are labeled “underperforming” by the NCLB standards. These schools then receive support but are required to offer parents the option of sending their children to other “more successful” schools. When this happens, the school must pay to transport these children, which takes away from the financial assistance that could be going to hire more qualified teachers or buy new resources to help the children who did not perform well on the test. This seems to only doom the school. The students with high scores can then be removed from the school and receive the bulk of the funding. It seems to me that there should be a better solution to this. In addition, the legislation requires that all children be taught by “highly qualified teachers.” Highly qualified teachers are important, but we come with a price. While I don’t think teachers get into teaching for the money, it is necessary for teachers to make a living. Many of the schools who do not make AYP do not have the money to hire better teachers and this is unfortunate. It seems that more funding should be sent to lower performing schools in order to bring them up to the No Child Left Behind Standards.

Sincerely,

Amanda Kramer